To ensure efficacy but avoid toxicity, many drugs require monitoring of their concentrations in the patient’s blood during therapy. Currently, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is done in diagnostic laboratories that need trained personnel and expensive in ...
Cyclosporins are a family of hydrophobic cyclic undecapeptides produced by the fungus Tolypocladium niveum. The main metabolite cyclosporin A (CsA, see Scheme, R = R' = H) is the first line drug currently used to prevent rejection of organ transplants. Its ...
A significant number of drugs exhibit narrow therapeutic windows and high inter-individual pharmacokinetic variability. In such cases, Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) is compulsory in order to optimize the efficacy of the drug while avoiding adverse effe ...
Micelles formed from amphiphilic block copolymers have been explored in recent years as carriers for hydrophobic drugs. In an aqueous environment, the hydrophobic blocks form the core of the micelle, which can host lipophilic drugs, while the hydrophilic b ...
The cyclosporins comprise a family of cyclic 11-peptides containing seven N-methylated, hydrophobic amino acids. Cyclosporine A (CsA) representing the major member of this family is widely used as immunosuppressive agent in organ transplantations. The biol ...
Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by an abnormal expanded polyglutamine (polyQ) repeat in the huntingtin protein. Insulin-like growth factor-1 acting through the prosurvival kinase Akt mediates the phosphorylation of huntingtin at S421 and inhibits the t ...
With higher nutrient and oxygen supply and close contact to blood, the portal vein is a possible alternative to the peritoneal cavity for transplantation of encapsulated cells. Data regarding intraportal biocompatibility of microcapsules are lacking. Micro ...
Cyclosporin is a cyclic undecapeptide useful as drug for organ transplantation due to its immunosuppressive properties. Ten years ago, an anti-viral activity was discovered, incompatible with immunosuppression. These two activities originate in the presenc ...
BACKGROUND: Encapsulating cells prevents the immune destruction of allogeneic cells in the subcutaneous site as well as allogeneic and xenogeneic cells in the central nervous system. However, when encapsulated xenogeneic cells are implanted s.c., they may ...
